


The Young and the Brave

by angstilicious



Series: The Young and the Brave [1]
Category: Marvel
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Audrey underage in beginning and during flashbacks, Death, Fluff, Self-Hatred, Swearing, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-30
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2018-12-08 20:30:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11654163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angstilicious/pseuds/angstilicious
Summary: Audrey and Zeke are your everyday vigilantes. That is, until they stumble upon a case bigger than they know what to do with, leading them to meet the Avengers. Can the two of them survive the big leagues or will their history come back to bite them in the ass?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this story has been brewing in my head for a while now and i finally got it up and started. Please read the warnings and feel free to let me know if I might have missed any. Also, I hope you're in it for the long haul because I just keep adding chapters. Starts out slow in my opinion, but totally worth it. I just really like to set up a story well.   
> PS. There are no romantic relationships in this. Purely platonic or more family oriented, even though it's hinted at more.

The wind cut into my windbreaker, which apparently wasn’t doing its job. I turn the corner, my face down to the ground trying to avoid whiplash, when I hear the scream. Now if I were any other “normal” human being, I would’ve high-tailed it out of there. Alas, I am not. So that’s how I find myself standing at the beginning of an alleyway looking down into the fog drifting between the buildings. A man lay on his back with his hands above him as if trying to protect himself. Three other men loom over the fallen one. I see a flash of metal and not knowing what possesses me, yell out

“HEY! HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?!? STOP!” I begin waving my arms above my head, trying to gain their attention.

All three men turn towards me before running off down the alleyway. I scurry over to the man on the ground. I glance him over once, checking for injuries, even though I honestly have no idea what to look for exactly. From what I can see, he’s a little bruised and battered, but overall okay. Another indicator would be the smile on his face as he looks at me like I’m a glimpse of sun in a week of rain… no one’s ever looked at me like that before.

We stare at one another for what seems like an inappropriate amount of time before he inhales and starts to speak.

“Thank you for saving me…?”  
  
“Audrey.” I choke out when I realize what he wants my name.

“Audrey… That’s a pretty name for a very pretty, young lady.” The man starts to get up and I stand with him.

Inching towards the mouth of the alley. “Th… Thank you, sir, but I really don’t want any trouble.” You back away some more intending to run when he holds up his hands as if I was aiming a gun at him.

“Audrey, I mean no harm. I do apologize. That was out of line. I just wanted to compliment the brave young girl who saved my life.” He places a hand over his chest. “I really am sorry. I do not wish to be a creep of any kind.” He pauses and watches my reaction for a second. I don’t move a muscle and he seems to take that as a cue to continue. “Now, I’ll be going now, but please if you would like anything for your assistance, please, let me know now.”

I can’t help but stare at the mesmerizing creature in front of me. My head is telling me to run, but my heart tells me to stay, which is funny considering it has been obnoxiously silent most of my life. I try to listen to my gut and it’s telling me that I’m not in danger. “What could you possibly do for me?”

He chuckled. “Well, I could walk you home if you wanted, but I have a feeling you know all about stranger danger. You look pretty smart.” He stands there grinning at you.

I think and realize there is something I want. Answers.

“Why were those men attacking you?”

His grin falls a little and the man is quiet for a moment before replying, “Why, you sure are a nosy little girl aren’t you?”

“You said anything I wanted and I want to know what happened. And for the record, I am 10, almost 11. That makes me practically a teenager.”

There’s that smile again. “Oh well I am so sorry **ma’am**. I didn’t realize. But I feel like if I told you the truth you wouldn’t believe me.”

I continue to give him a hard stare, “Try me.”

A laugh, a clearing of the throat, and a look dead in the eye is the only warning I get before, “I’m a vigilante.”

A car passes by on the road behind me as the air around us takes a long breath. I break the silence, “Seriously?”

Still grinning, “See I told ya you wouldn’t believe me.”

“I never said I don’t believe you. I’m just making sure that you’re not screwing with me.”

“Now why would I lie to you?”

“All adults lie.”

Another breath.

“Well, not me. I’d never lie to you kid. I really am a vigilante. I’ve been tracking those goons for 8 months. Turns out I wasn’t doing so very stealthily.”

I pause, letting it sink in. “Okay.” Then I turn and walk away.

“WAIT!” There’s footsteps following me and a tug on my arm making me turn. The man drops his arm down to his sides again and stares at me with a dumbfounded look on his face. “That’s all you have to say… Okay?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Yeah, what else do you want me to say?”

He opened and closed his mouth so many times I lost count before finally deciding on, “Well… you could’ve given me more than just an ‘Okay.’”

I tilt my head trying to figure this strange man out.

“Okay then. I could say ‘WOW!’ or “That’s amazing.’ or even better ‘Gee willikers!’’ I give him a blank look. “Which one do you prefer?”

Now he really gets into the laugh, actually doubling over, with a hand on his stomach.

Recovering, he replies with, “Oh jeez kid, you are something else.”

_Oh, if only he knew._

While he’s still chuckling to himself, I turn to walk away, shouting over my shoulder, “Well it was nice meeting you!”

More footsteps and another, “WAIT!” have me turning around again with a look of annoyance etched on my pretty face.

“What?” I ask not managing to keep the sharpness out of my tiny voice.

To think through all this, this man is **still** grinning. He holds up his hands in the same fashion as before.

“Wow, sorry, I just wanted to ask what a young girl--” He receives a harsh look from me before correcting himself. “Sorry. Young _woman_ is doing out here all by herself.”

All he gets is another shrug of the shoulders and a, “I like to walk.”

The man narrows his eyes at me and crosses his arms. “Uh huh. And I’m Mother Teresa.” His face softens. “Seriously kid, what are you doing out here?”

I look at the ground and mumble out my reply.

He takes a step forward and asks for me to speak louder.

I try again only slightly louder, but it’s enough for him to hear me.

“I’m running away.”

He must have lost all control of his face because his jaw nearly hit the ground and his eyes widen to the size of basketballs. He took a second to compose himself before trying to speak. “Now, why would you be doing that?”

Still staring at the ground, I muttered, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Kneeling down to more your level, he asked if I thought my parents would be worried about me.

Anger pouring in out of nowhere, I screamed at the man in front of me who had no right to be asking such questions.

“I DON’T HAVE ANY PARENTS!”

The uneasiness in the air clung to every part of me and made it harder to breathe.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay.”

Another stretch of silence as both of us try to take a deep breath.

I look back up at the man as a thought hit me.

“Hey…” He looks at me, his eyebrows raised in question. “What’s your name?

This time the smile is small. “Zeke.”


	2. I fucked up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting the Avengers.

_It’s all my fault. I couldn’t leave well enough alone and I fucked up the entire mission._

These are the thoughts occupying my mind as I race through downtown Manhattan. The goons still tailing me even after 2 miles. I had to have a talk with Zeke about working on long-term running. Sprinting I can do, but this shit, come on! A glance backward tells me, they can keep going another couple miles.

Just as I contemplate falling to the ground and submitting myself to their mercy, a large boulder appears in front of me, and because I wasn’t paying attention, I run right into it. Bracing myself for the hard impact, a moment passes before I realize the ground didn’t catch my fall. Opening my eyes reveals that the boulder is actually a very attractive young man, holding me a couple inches off the pavement.

“Are you alright miss?” The large man asks.

I’m so exhausted all I can manage is a nod of my head. He sets me down gently just as the goons chasing me turn the corner and stop abruptly in their paths. In all honesty, I would too if I were them facing off against this mountain man.

My savior approaches the men before they can run and takes them all to the ground in what seems like a swift motion. In one second, it’s all over with and the Mountain Man is back asking me what happened.

I manage to look at him and whisper a weak, “Thank you.” before passing out in his arms.

 

 

I come to in what looks like a hospital room. The events of the day start tumbling into my already throbbing head. Zeke and me. The mission. The goons who just so happen to be part of a mafia. Stolen firearms. The chase through downtown. And the Mountain Man. He must have dropped me off at the hospital.

_Oh shit, Zeke is not going to happy to hear this._

Just as I was coming up with my escape plan, a pretty Asian woman walks in with a tablet in her hands. Looking up, surprise crosses her face at my consciousness.

“Oh! You’re awake! Well that’s fantastic news.”

I just stare at her, not knowing what to say. I can’t even remember the last time I was in an actual hospital.

Meanwhile the doctor scurried over the me and started playing with buttons and dials.

“I’m just checking your vitals, which are extremely good for someone who just went through what you did.” She turned and smiled at me, before typing something in her tablet, “Okay then, I will send in one of the boys to talk to you. Trust me, they are a lot easier to deal with then the females.” She laughs to herself like what she just said was funny and then told me she’d see me later before walking out the door.

As soon as she closes the door, I spring into action, ripping needles out and untangling myself from the mess of tubes and wires attached to me. Once that’s done, I jump out of the bed, slightly noting that I only have on a hospital gown and underwear, and make my way to the door. Sadly, standing right outside the door, with a hand posed to knock, is my savior – the Mountain Man.

A staring contest ensues, where neither of us exactly know what to do next. He unfreezes first and asks, “What are you doing?”

Still staring into those baby blues, I reply, “Leaving.”

His beautiful face scrunches up in confusion. “No, you’re not. You just got shot and stabbed **and** you were extremely dehydrated when I found you. You need rest.”

Looking down the corridors, I briefly wonder what my chance would be of breaking free from this prison.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Glancing back up at the friendly blonde giant blocking my exit, I huff, turn around, and hop right back onto the bed.

_How could I be so stupid. Now they are going to ask all kinds of questions that I don’t have answers for._

I’m knocked out of my pity party when the blonde giant asks a question.

“So, what’s your name?”

I know better, staying quiet and focusing my attention to the light switch by the door. Sadly, this does not deter my guest.

“Okay then. I guess I’ll go first. My name’s Steve. Steve Rogers.” He politely holds out his hand to me, but all I can do is stare at it. I know I’ve heard that name before.

“Alright, so you’re not much of a talker. Can you at least tell me what those guys were doing chasing you? We ran them through the system and they came up as possible mafia members. Did you know that?”

Silence is all I have right now so I stick with it, focusing my attention on the light switch again.

The Friendly, Blonde Giant sighs and moves to stand in front of my gaze. He starts to stare me down and I’m not going to lie: it sucks. But I remain ever so silent as I try to stare past his obviously extremely healthy physique.

He opens his mouth to probably ask another question, but is interrupted by the door. We both turn to see a shorter but older man with dark hair, glasses, and a rocking goatee enter. He also has a tablet in his hands and it takes a second for him to look up at the both of us.

His gaze wanders from mine to the Blonde Giant then back to me. His eyes narrow as he looks me up and down. I manage to keep my face from betraying any of my thoughts as he finishes his assessment and turns back to his friend.

“She tell you anything yet?”

“Nope. Quieter than a mouse.”

The shorter man, who I have deemed Grumpy, looks back to me and narrows his eyes again. My innocent look never wavers.

After what seems like forever, he finally speaks.

“Who are you? What are you hiding? I ran your prints through the system and couldn’t get single hit. You look younger than 18 years of age, and, correct me if I’m wrong, that seems a little too young to be getting shot at by a mafia gang. Also, the men who did this to you aren’t talking and I need answers. Right. Now.”

He talked so fast it took a minute for my befuddled brain to catch up, but when it did, I remained silent.

_I can’t tell these people what I do. For one, they won’t believe me and for two, I might get thrown in prison or an institution for talking. Zeke always said to never tell anyone what we do. No one gets it. Risking our own lives for random strangers and the thrills of the chases that occur on a daily basis. Plus, we don’t even get paid for it. Okay Audrey, time to lie._

Taking a deep breath, I form my story.

I shake my head like I’m just getting the situation I’m in. “Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what happened. One minute I’m walking down the street and the next those men were chasing around me. They threw me into an alleyway and brought out the knives.” I shivered for effect. “I was terrified. I managed to get away and ran, but they chased me.” Cue the tears. “I’m just so lucky I ran into your friend here.” I look at Blondie with puppy dog eyes. “Thank you so much. You really saved my life. How can I ever repay you?”

The smaller man scoffed, “How about by telling us the truth?”

Frowning, I look at him and roll my eyes.

_Well that didn’t work Audrey. What’s next?_

Blondie decided to speak up again. “How about you just give us your name and we can go from there.”

Focusing on him, I see a hint of sadness in his eyes. He honestly wants to help and I’m being difficult. How rude of me. It is that sadness that makes me sigh, and give him a name.

“Elisa Couffman.”

Blondie smiles. “Thank you Elisa.”

It’s not a complete lie. I was ‘Elisa Coffman’ at one point in my life. They don’t need to know that I stole the name from a dead girl.

His friend, on the other hand, is already out the door typing away on his little tablet.

Turning back to Blondie, who is still smiling, I ask for a glass of water.

He leaves the room with the promise of returning with a crisp beverage.

As soon as I hear his footsteps fade away, I am up and out the door going in the opposite direction.

It becomes clear to me after turning a few corners that I have no idea where I am going or how I’m going to get out of here. It’s not too long before I hear Blondie’s voice calling after me. Or I guess more for “Elisa.” The footsteps get closer so I duck into the next unlocked door.

I find myself in a lab type setting. There’s beaker and lab coats and microscopes. I even see a notebook with formulas and handwritten notes in it. I don’t dare turn on the light, but curiosity gets the best of me and I walk through the rows of lab tables and test tubes admiring it all. From what I can remember of school, I liked science well enough. Now the only science I get to do these days is building a homemade bomb or smoke ball. As I’m looking through a microscope, the door opens and I’m caught.


	3. Double, Bubble, Boy I'm in Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Audrey causing some trouble in the palace.

Blondie stands in front of me with a grim look and his sculpture arms crossed in front of his chest. I wince a bit at his expression

Trying to lighten the mood, I ask, “I never had a chance, did I?”

Blondie just slowly shakes his head and motions for me to come with him. I comply because, heck, what else can I do?

We make it back to my hospital room where the Grumpy is waiting for us with a face that says he’s none too happy about me trying to escape.

_Yeah “Grumpy” suits him._

He lets me sit back on the bed before jumping down my throat again.

“You are not Elisa Coffman. She died years ago in a car accident. Now I’m going to ask this once and once only. Who. Are. You?”

My eyes shying to the floor I mumble out an answer.

Apparently, they didn’t hear me because Grumpy asks, “What?”

I take a deep breath before saying again, “I can’t tell you.”

Now Grumpy looks about ready to blow his top and Blondie… well he just looks sad again. And disappointed. I hate that look.

Before Grumpy started steaming out of his ears, Blondie held up a hand to his friend. Never taking his eyes off me, he steps forward and crouches by my side.

His voice is so soft, it physically hurts you to lie to him.

“Listen, we would like to help you—” He let the words soak in before continuing, “But we can’t do that unless you help us. Understand? All we need is your name. Your **real** name… What do ya say? Please let us help you.”

He ended up gripping my hand halfway through his little plea and I couldn’t help but stare into his pretty blue eyes and feel like I can trust him.

So softly, that I’m surprised he even heard me, I told him, “You won’t find anything. It’s all gone.”

He smiled just as softly as he spoke. “Let us try,” he whispered.

With a sigh, I figured I wasn’t getting anywhere anyways.

“Audrey. My name is Audrey.”

Another sad smile. “Thank you, Audrey. What’s your last name?”

“Don’t have one.” I give him a rueful smile.

All through this Grumpy is tap, tap, tapping away on his little tablet in his hands trying to conjure something on me.

“How do you not have a last name Audrey?”

Shrugging I tell him the truth. “I just don’t. I haven’t had a last name for a very long time now.”

When he tilts his head, he reminds me of a puppy. “Well, Audrey, do you have anybody possibly looking for you?”

Now this question is a wee bit harder to answer. On one hand if I say no, he might feel bad and want me to stay longer. On the other hand, I don’t want to rat out Zeke. I compromise by returning to my mute state.

A sigh escapes his lips as Grumpy starts making noises.

“How is this possible? There can’t be that many Audrey’s in the system.”

He’s now typing furiously.

I know he’s not going to find anything, at least not right away. Zeke and I decided I needed to disappear like he did if we were going to work together. We paid good money to have me deleted off the map. Wretchedly, I also know that someone with enough resources and skills can dig up something that far gone. Luckily, I was a kid when I disappeared so at least that’s in my favor. Not much makes it out into the open until adulthood.

Blondie continues his never-ending, puppy-dog gaze and it’s honestly starting to get on my nerves. He sighs. “Audrey, do you have a birthday?”

“I don’t know. Probably.” I can’t bear to look at him. He’s making me feel… guilty.

“Audrey.” A short pause. “Audrey, please look at me.” But I refuse and he sighs again. I find myself physically in pain every time I hear it.

I feel his gaze on me for what feels like hours before he gets up and leaves the room, Grumpy right behind him.


	4. Meet and Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I really don't like summaries. Please don't make me do it.

I end up in a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. When I open my eyes completely, it’s because of the door to my hospital room being opened and closed. Sighing, I look up expecting to see Grumpy or Blondie again; one to chew me out and the other to make me feel like I kicked a puppy. So, I’m certainly surprised when a woman with red hair and a blank look stands at my bedside. She glances over me before deciding to take a seat on the chair next to me.

“Hello. My name is Natasha, but most people call me Nat.”

I stumble out a weak, “Audrey.”

“So, my friends were telling me that you don’t exist and I had to see for myself.” Another glance over. “With all due respect, you look pretty alive to me.” She pauses and looks at me. I don’t know how to answer so I just stare back.

“We would really like to help you Audrey. We’re the good guys and girls, but you have to give us something else besides a first name.” Her face is as sad as Blondie’s. She truly looks like she wants to help me and I find myself believing her, which is dangerous territory. “How about a relative? We could call them and have them pick you up. We certainly can’t have you leaving on your own with what just happened.” A long pause where I debate saying anything, but don’t because Zeke would be pissed. “Okay. Fine. But be warned, you’re staying under our watch until we can figure out what happened and how to fix it.” She stands. “The sooner you help us, the sooner we can help you, and then the sooner you can get home.” I receive a soft smile that nearly sends me spilling all my secrets. She gives my knee a gentle squeeze… like my mom used to, before walking out the door.

 

 

After healing in what I learned to be called “the infirmary.” I’m showed to a room, that’s truly more like a hotel room. Opening the door, the first thing I notice is the huge queen-sized bed. Also in the room: a dresser drawer, which I discover has some clothes my size already in them; and a side table with an intricate lamp on top. There’s also a giant flat screen across the bed and a beautiful fireplace beneath. I walk over to the window and have to catch my breath. The view is – stunning. All of Manhattan spread out before me, twinkling in the dusk. People hurry home below me in cars or on foot and the sky is much closer up here. I can see that I’m not even the very top either. The building must have almost 100 floors. Something about the location and building are sending me weird vibes. I feel like I should know where I’m at, but can’t quite put my finger on it.

Stepping away from the window, I turn to a door on the left side of the room. Upon opening it, I find a huge bathroom. There’s a deep, wide sink. A bathtub big enough for me to swim in, and a shower that could probably hold about 4-6 people. Another door later has me finding some of the softest towels I have ever held, washcloths, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and pretty much anything else I could need for however long I’m stuck here.

Walking back out into the bedroom, I find Natasha, or as I’ve gotten to calling her Whiplash because of her constant changing moods and faces. It’s extremely hard to keep up. One second, she’s my friend then the next she practically threatened me for information on who I was working for. Yeah, she’s scary.

Today looks like a friend day from the looks of her impish grin.

“How are you finding the place? Is it to your liking?”

I think I note a bit of sarcasm, but decide not to comment on it.

“Yes. This place is amazing, but why am I here?”

“You mean why aren’t you in a cell or cage?” She’s also very good at hitting things right on the nose.

I slowly nod as her grin gets bigger and more humane.

“Steve believes you’re a good person. He doesn’t think you belong in a cell and, more importantly, he wants you to trust us. That means you get your own room on our floor where we can keep a close eye out on you until you decide to tell us what you were doing going against a Mafia or when we find out ourselves.” She walks up to me and whispers directly in my ear, “A little word of advice: Don’t let us be the ones to find out. It will be so much easier on you if you tell us the truth yourself.”

She backs away and starts to walk, but stops in the doorway and turns. “Oh, and Audrey. Don’t try and escape. You won’t make it very far and it will just make things worse for you. Right now, Stevie is only seeing the good in you. That won’t last forever.” And with that she walks out of “my” room, shutting the door behind her.

_That woman is the stuff of nightmares._

I check out my prison, albeit a nice prison, until I have my measurements of the room and doorways. Next is to check for surveillance cameras, but none are to be found. Next, make myself aware of everything in the room, as to easily navigate even in the dark. Going through the list Zeke taught me calms my nerves.

After all that is done, I sit on the giant bed and turn on the tv above the bed. I flip through channels until a voice seemingly coming out of thin air says my name.

“Ms. Audrey, your presence is requested in the common room.”

Not gonna lie, I jumped out of my skin. Landing on the floor, I quickly get up and scan the room, but can’t find anything out of the ordinary.

“Who… who was that?”

The voice speaks again, sounding like a computer-generated voice.

“Ms. Audrey, I am F.R.I.D.A.Y. I’m an AI. Mr. Stark constructed me to help him.”

I know I should be freaked out from the disembodies voice, but something it says catches my ear. Stark. I know I heard that name before, but where?

“Umm… okay Ms. Computer Lady. I – uh – guess I’ll be right there.”

“Very well Miss and do please call me Friday.”

I mumble an “I don’t think so” under my breath before leaving the room and hopefully the voice behind.

It becomes clear very quickly, yet again, that I have no idea where I am going. After making a few false turns, the computer lady told me where to go, confirming my fears that this voice will haunt me wherever I go. Walking into the common room, I see an even bigger flat screen, chairs and couches spread out among the room, a table big enough to seat a football team, and a very high tech looking kitchen. I don’t know how to cook much, but this place makes me want to learn. Zeke always meant to teach me. A floor to ceiling glass window is off to the far side of the room and an elevator is off to the other. At least now I know an escape if I need one. There were people milling about, until they noticed my presence and everyone stops.

One thing I hate more than being held captive or long runs through the city being chased by the modern mafia, is being the center of attention. After a few awkward moments, I raise my hand and mutter out a greeting, which seems to snap everyone out of the trance.

Blondie, who I still can’t figure out who he reminds me of, walks over and asks how I’m doing. With a light hand on my back, he leads me to the center of the room and I stand there, because again, what else am I going to do? He’s still chatting away talking about how great it is to get to know me, even though he knows absolute shit, and how he can’t wait to learn more.

Then starts the introductions.

“So, you already met me, Tony, and Natasha,” he points them out in turn, “this is Sam.” I’m approached by a handsome darker-skinned male with a grin I’m sure lands him ladies left and right. He shakes my hand and gives me a “Hey pretty lady” that leaves practically everyone rolling their eyes.

“And here we have Clint.” Another hand shake and a quick assessment before he smiles as well. He’s holding an arrow and a cloth in one hand. An archer. Interesting.

Another dark-skinned fellow is up next. “Hi, my name’s James, but everyone here calls me Rhodey.” I can’t help but notice his gait is a little off. He must have suffered some sort of injury.

“And last but not least we have Vision.”

This one throws me for a loop. The human like creature has a face, two legs, two arms, two eyes, everything he’s supposed to have… but he’s purple. From head to toe: purple. He’s wearing a cape and some sort of suit, but I don’t know how to describe it honestly. I’m settling for uniform like… or maybe Barney.

“And that’s everyone. Well everyone that’s here. We have more people but they’re kind of busy at the current moment and won’t be back for a while. We can just introduce you when the time comes.”

Hearing that darkens my mood because he seems to be assuming that I’ll be staying for a while. I don’t want to stay another night. Alas, I must sit and wait for the right opportunity to present itself to make my escape.

Everyone moved on from me and started going their separate ways having their own separate conversations, which left me standing there not knowing what to do with myself.

Suddenly, Blondie made an appearance again.

“Okay so, what would you like to do today?”

I scoff, “Leave.”

His brilliant smile fell, but I only felt half as guilty as before seeing as I’m being held here against my will.

“Well, we have an entertainment room, training room and gym, the pool… Audrey are you alright?”

He only asked because out of nowhere, I started to fall. He gripped me tight and held me against him while I caught my balance.

“Audrey, Audrey, can you hear me?”

Oh, I could hear him alright. And now I know why he seems so familiar. I can’t believe it took the purple man for me to figure it out.

I’m being held by Captain America.

I push him off me and nod my head quickly yes that I’m fine. I’m trying to catch my breath.

_I’m standing with Captain America. This must be the Avengers place. Oh my fucking lord, I got caught by the fricking Avengers… yep I’m never getting out of here._

I wonder how hard of a hit to the head I took for it to take me so long to realize this.

Captain America is still staring at me with concern, so I put on my best face, plant a smile on top and try to backtrack.

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry to worry you. I just kind of came to the sudden realization that you’re Captain America and this is the Avengers place.”

He blushed at the mention of his other half. “Well that’s awkward. We assumed you already knew who we were.” He rubs the back of his head while seeming very interesting in the flooring.

“Yeah. Again sorry. I guess I took a pretty hard hit to the head.”

There’s a long awkward silence.

“Anyways let me show you around a bit. Maybe we can find something you like to do.”

And so, off we went from room to room. I pay extra attention to where I’m going so I know the ins and outs of this place. I zone out though when we hit the training gym. I must have been staring at it in longing before Mr. America waved a hand in front of my face.

“Hello. Audrey. You still with me?”

“Huh… oh yeah… sorry. I was just admiring he hugeness of it. all.”

“We can go in if you like.”

Oh, how I’d love to go in there and use all that expensive equipment. I needed to get back into shape after being in a hospital bed for a week. But if these people were going to see me as non-threatening, I had to play the part.

“I, uh, don’t really know how to use any of that stuff.” I look to the ground for effect, but really, I’m trying hard not to gag at myself for sounding so pathetic.

“Oh, that’s no problem,” the smile is back, “we can show you how to use that and maybe show you some self-defense moves.”

 “That sounds great!” I aim a huge smile his way and that ends the discussion.

He leads me through the rest of the building. The only other area that remotely seems interesting are the labs, which I’m not allowed to enter. I do find out the name of the doctor that took care of me: Doctor Helen Cho. While we are there she asks to take my readings to see how I’m holding up.

Mr. America stays with me the whole time and smiles anytime I look his way. It’s when he thinks I’m not looking does his façade drop and he checks me over. I don’t think he knows what to make of me and that thought alone makes it hard to not smile like an idiot.

I’m cleared and Mr. America takes me back to the common area kitchen to grab a snack for lunch, then he deposits me at my room. We stand there awkwardly trying to think of what to say. He beats me to the punch.

“Well, if you need anything just ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. or come find me or anyone else on the team. We’re here to help.” I try not to roll my eyes at that line. “Dinner is around 6 so just come out whenever. It’s Vision’s turn to cook so I’m not promising the best meal you ever had but it will be edible.” A brilliant smile and nod of his head later and he’s on his way.


	5. Pop Goes the Zeke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers receive an unexpected visitor.

A week goes by with no chance of getting the heck out of here. My days consist of breakfast, which is way too early for my liking; then training, WonderBoy is so patient with me it’s almost hysterical; then lunch, which I find the food to be pretty decent no matter who cooks it; then off to practice my own chef skills in the wonderful room they call kitchen (apparently it’s my turn to cook sometime next week); then I relax in my room until dinner and after plot my escape. So far, it’s not a horrible experience.

It’s not until the end of my first two weeks that something interesting happens. I awake to a weird noise coming from the common room. Getting up to investigate and grabbing the large knife I stole from the kitchen one day, I creep down the hall until I hear a scream, then I sprint. 

Right outside the elevators, WonderBoy has a man pinned to the ground and is twisting his arm behind his back causing him to yelp in pain. It takes a second for me to realize that I know this man. 

I start screaming at Captain America to let him go, which he does, with a confused look on his handsome face. I run to the man’s side and kneel checking him for injuries. By now everyone else is awake and watching the sight. 

After I help the man get into a sitting position, I look up to see everyone staring at us. 

Grumpy is the first to snap out of it. His voice is oddly calm when he asks, “Audrey, do you know this man?”

I probably look like a fish from how many times my mouth opens and closes. I decide enough is enough and the time for truth is now.

“Yes. I do. Everyone this Zeke. Zeke, meet… the Avengers.”

Silence steals over everyone. I, myself, am dumbfounded on how Zeke managed to get this far into the building. This place is a fortress.

Zeke recovers first this time. “Hi everyone! Nice to meet you! Sorry it’s under such misgiving circumstances.”

WonderBoy pulls Zeke to his feet and I follow suit. 

Steve looks kind of pissed when he glances between Zeke and me. I’m thankful when he speaks just to clear some of the tension in the room. 

His gaze settles on Zeke. “Who are you?”

Zeke lets his boyish charm out and smiles. “Well we already established my name is Zeke and I’m… well… I’m kind of her father.”

“What do you mean by kind of?” This question came from Grumpy.

“Well, she’s my responsibility.” That’s all he says and I wish I could tell him that that wasn’t going to cut it with these people.

Another painful silence stretches out before someone calls out, “conference room.”

Upon everyone entering the conference room, everyone takes a designated seat, even though there’s no names or anything. I don’t have one so I remain standing next to Zeke near the front of the room. 

The stares vary in intensity until Mr. America decides to speak up. “The truth. Now.”

Seeing that we are clearly not favorites in this room Zeke gently pushes me behind him all the while glaring at each and every person in the space. I will never understand how he can have so much confidence in a room full of people who could kill us without much effort. I’ve always admired him for that.

He sighs and I can see his wheels spinning, deciding whether or not to lie. He sighs one more time which tells me the answer. It’s the truth. So, he starts from the beginning, the very beginning. He tells Earth’s mightiest heroes about how he began his start into vigilantism after his wife was murdered. He took them all down single-handedly, out of pure rage. He talks about meeting me and how I unknowingly saved his life. He tells them about every other time I’ve saved his life or the other way around. How he didn’t want to bring me along on his shit-show, his words not mine, but I was stubborn enough to wiggle my way in. He looks at me when he talks about how we have only had each other and I have to look at the ground for fear of doing something stupid like crying. He ends with our last mission. How it went haywire. How he was badly injured. How I never met him at the checkpoint and he came looking for me as soon as he could walk straight again. He found out through some locals about how they saw Captain America carrying you out of the alley and into the tower. So, he formed a plan of attack to get me back and now we were all here.

I look up at the clock and notice two hours have passed. After hearing nothing but Zeke’s voice for that amount of time, the silence that follows seems over abundantly loud. Everyone else in the room just stares at the two of you, misfits of society (again, Zeke’s words not mine). The silence is making it hard to breath and the stares are weighing me down even more. A hand reaches back to grab mine and I smile, not understanding how Zeke always knows when I need him the most.

Finally, Natasha Whiplash speaks. “Soo… you guys have been on the run for about your entire lives.”

Zeke smiles at the redhead. “Yep, pretty much. I’ve been out there for about 12 years, Audrey is more around a 6.” He turns to me and smiles. I return the gesture and squeeze his hand twice, like we always do when in hard times. He squeezes back twice and returns his attention to the gaping audience in front of us.

“And what made you think it was okay to have a child in this line of work?” The hard voice belongs to Mr. America. His eyes look harder than steel and I shiver a bit at the anger in them.

Zeke bristles at the jab, but refuses to lose his cool. “At first, no. I didn’t like the idea of her being anywhere near my life. But we ended up meeting again in tough spots. She may have been young, but she was tough. She still is. I wouldn’t want anyone else watching my back. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.” 

I look to the ground again. Zeke isn’t much of a “talk about your feelings” kind of guy, but I always knew that he cared. I just didn’t know he thought that highly of me. I feel two squeezes on my hand and manage to squeeze back. Honestly all I want to do is hug the man, but it will have to wait until after our trial.

WonderBoy’s eyes settle on me for a long moment before asking, “Why didn’t you just tell us?”

Zeke opens his mouth to answer but is quickly shut down by a cold look from the man of our great nation. “No. I want to hear it from her.”

All eyes are on me now. I glance once at Zeke who gives me a wink and a smile and that’s all the courage I need to continue. 

“We decided that if we were ever captured, the less people knew about us, the better off we were. We are ghosts to society. People whisper about us, but no one is really sure if we were ever real. That’s the way we like it. We stay under the radar and only act if we are sure of a clean getaway. Obviously, there are mistakes made, hence me ending up here. I really am sorry for not telling you all, but I only had what I know. And even though you’re all on the news and saving the world, I wasn’t 100% sure I could trust you.” I take a deep breath after and hold it waiting on the verdict.

They all turn to look at one another and there seems to be a generally consensus of what everyone else is saying. 

I wonder if they can read minds.

I dismiss the thought quickly. If they could, I would’ve been found out from day one. 

I’m still holding my breath when WonderBoy looks back at us and says, “Okay. We believe you. And you’ll be free to go –” I exhale a sigh of relief “– when you help us take down this mafia.” And there goes my breath again.

Zeke and I look at one another and do the same “talking without actually talking thing” that they all did moments before. I already know what he’s going to say on the matter and I have no authority to say otherwise. He’s right. We could use the help with this stupid mafia gang. 

Zeke shows them all his boyish grin. “When do we start?”


	6. "Witty Chapter Title"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone even read these things...?

That night we all sat at the dinner table throwing ideas around on what should be our next step. They shared their info they had gathered since I showed up and Zeke shared ours. I could still feel everyone glancing at me every now and again. They finally had their answers but I don’t think it was what anyone expected them to be.

Natasha Whiplash cornered me earlier in the day to give me her personal interrogation.

“Can you fight?”

Confused as to where this was heading, I asked, “Huh?”

“Can you fight? Like honestly stand your own against one of us?”

“I don’t know. Probably…” I thought about it or a second. “Well… maybe… I don’t know.” I ended with a shrug.

She got a predatory smile on her face before telling me to meet her in the training room after breakfast to show her what I got.

Now sitting here at the table I survey everyone in the room. 

Zeke: I know I can hold my own against. He still usually wins, but he has been doing this longer and he taught me everything I know. Every now and again I gain the upper hand and take him down.

Mr. America: Pfft. I wouldn’t have a chance.

Whiplash: Maybe. I’ve never actually seen her fight. She always trained after Stevie and I had left for the day. I never really stuck around to watch. Now I wish I had.

Clint, or as I’ve gotten to calling him Bow Boy: Never seen him fight either, but the guy can shoot. Seriously, I never want to be on the receiving end of one of his arrows.

Smirking Sam: I could take him down. No doubt.

Vision: The guy would vaporize me with whatever’s in his head before I could lay a punch.

Rhodey: He doesn’t really do much either. I learned he lost the ability to walk and is still learning how to use the equipment Grumpy came up with to help him walk again.

Grumpy: Maybe without one of his stupid super suits. He doesn’t look like much of a fighter without one on.

I’m called back into the conversation and find everyone looking my way. Zeke is asking me a question.

“Did you get the hard drive Audrey?”

Realizing what he means, I nod my head. “Yeah, I had to hide it along the way in case they got me, but it should still be in its safe location.”

“Well… where is it?” Grumpy waits for response. 

“Can’t tell you that.” 

His face falls. “What do you mean you can’t tell me that?”

“I mean I can’t tell you the location of the drive. I can go get it. Zeke could come too, but I can’t tell you guys.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s one of our safe houses.”

All I receive is speechless looks. 

“We can’t just let you both go off on your own. What do we look like idiots?” I didn’t answer. “One of you can go get the hard drive, but you have to take at least one member of our team with you. Just to make sure you don’t scamper off with it.” Grumpy looks dead serious on this fact.

Zeke and I exchange glances, coming to a resolution.

“Fine. But I get to pick who goes with me.”

An amused look crosses Grumpy’s face. “And who’s the lucky winner?”

“Mr. Star Spangly over here,” I say, jabbing a finger in his general direction.

He honestly looks surprised I picked him, but recovers quickly enough to reply, “Okay. When do we leave?”


	7. Two Kinds of History

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This ones slightly longer so have fun with that fact.

Dusk settles the next night as we move out of the compound. I have to say it is definitely a new experience creeping along the streets of New York with Captain Fricking America instead of Zeke, but I got over the thought quickly. Where we were going is not a place to get distracted. 

WonderBoy offered to drive the both of us over, but after looking at the impressive vehicles they have in their garage made the decision for me. Definitely couldn’t go gallivanting around Midtown in one of those fancy, dancy pieces of machinery. It’s like we’d be asking to get jumped, and Zeke and I pride ourselves on being ghosts. Never to be seen or heard, but for people to know we linger in the shadows, waiting to strike. 

On foot, the trek is about 45 minutes and, because stealth is key, it will take us over an hour to get there, retrieve the drive, and then start our long trek back to the Avengers palace. Now that I’m really thinking about it, I probably should have picked someone less noticeable than The Captain America. Truth is, though, I didn’t really trust anyone else nearly as much to accompany me on this mission. I don’t trust WonderBoy either, but at least I know if I get stuck in a pickle, he can get me out. Plus, he has that whole “I’m perfect and can save everyone if I try hard enough” thin going for him.

For the first half of the journey, all is quiet between the two of us. It’s not until we get close to Columbus Circle that he feels the need to say something.

“So you and Zeke have known each other a long time, huh?”

Keeping my eyes fixed on our route, I shrug. “If over six years is a long time then sure.”

I see him nodding in my peripheral vision. “And you saved his life?"

“It would appear that way.” 

“I gotta ask,” Oh great. “What were you doing out so late anyways. You where, what, 10? Shouldn’t you have been at home or something?”

I knew this question would be coming up. Zeke told of our meeting but left out my own personal details. They all know I as out on the streets, just not why; and I wanted to keep it that way. Although, I’m surprised the question didn’t come up earlier. Guess it was all too much to take in at a time.

I decide to pretend I didn’t hear him and to my great astonishment, he lets it slide. The only sounds to be heard now are the hustle and bustle of the city I begrudgingly adore. Zeke and I have been all across the map, but for some reason, I always loved New York. Yeah, it has its low points and we don’t exactly stay in the finer areas, but the city has always fascinated me.

As we pass Carnegie Hall, I can’t help but smile. That place has got to be my all-time favorite memory of New York. 

WonderBoy notices my change in mood because he asks, “You ever been?”

Still smiling, I reminisce. “Yeah. One time, after a huge drugs bust operation Zeke and I spent months on, he took me to Carnegie Hall to celebrate. There was this renowned pianist, mind you I can’t remember her name, but she was so talented. The way her fingers moved across the piano so effortlessly amazed me in a way I can’t really explain. And, oh Steve, the music,” I grabbed his arm to make sure he was paying attention, “it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. There was no lyrics or any other instrument. It was just a piano, but I had no idea they could make such beautiful sounds.” I release his arm and continue walking, unaware we had even stopped. “Then he took me for ice cream and we just walked around the city and talked about everything but our job. It was possibly the best day of my life.” I try to quench my smile, but it seems impossible. I love that memory.

Wonderboy smiles at me with a twinkle in his eye. “Have you ever been back?”

My smile falters a little. “No… but I hope to one day. Just to hear the music again.”

Still smiling he slows his pace a bit until we’re practically stopped. “How about after this whole mafia thing is over and dealt with. We all can go. I’ve never been there yet and would love to see it.”

My smile just got a hundred times bigger. “Seriously..?”

He laughs. “Seriously. I wouldn’t lie to you Audrey.”

There’s something in the way he says it that makes me believe him… and that worries me.

We put our hoods up the closer we get to Midtown. I find the street our safehouse is on and I unlock the back door. I can see WonderBoy’s eyes going everywhere and I want to hit him. We’re trying to blend in and he looks like a fricking cop on the lookout for some damsel in distress to save.

Once inside, the questions start again. “Why on Earth would you put a safehouse in such a dangerous place?”

I can’t help the eye roll I send his way. “Let me ask you a question. If you were running from thugs, or say the mafia, would they think you were heading towards a more dangerous part of town or a safer one?”

He thinks for a second before responding, “Probably safer.”

“Exactly. They would never guess we would be stupid enough to stay in their own backyard.”

There’s a long pause, then, “That actually makes sense.” 

I give him another eye roll. “Well of course it does. Zeke and I may not be the Avengers, but between the two of us, there is some brain power that hasn’t been beaten out of us.”

I find the hole in the wall where I stashed the drive and retrieve it. I return to find WonderBoy deep in thought. I wave my hand in front of his face and he snaps his head my way. 

“Earth to America. I’ve got the drive. Let’s get out of here.” I’m about to walk towards the door when his expression stops me. “What… what is it? You obviously have something to say, so, say it.” My hands go straight to my hips in what Zeke calls my “Give Me” pose. I apparently use it whenever I don’t get something I really want.

WonderBoy sighs. “I was just thinking that you’ve been in this life for practically your entire life. You never had a childhood and that just doesn’t sit right with me.”

I feel the air go out of my lungs. Out of everything he could’ve said that was not one I expected to make the cut.

I feel my face go ice cold and my expression harden. I catch my breath and give him a terse reply. “And you feel that it’s all Zeke’s fault, right?”

He looks taken aback by the coldness in my tone. “No, not necessarily. I just think–”

“Yes well whatever you think, can stay firmly shoved up your ass cause I don’t want to hear it. Zeke is the best damn thing that’s ever happened to me. He saved me from myself and without him I’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere.” My words get laced with anger. “So next time, you want to think you know something about my life, or his, you can keep your trap shut because no one knows a damn thing about us.”

A blush takes over his ashamed face. He stares pointedly at the ground for a couple minutes, trying to compose himself again. When he does, he looks at me with those puppy eyes and I know he feels sorry, but whether it’s about asking the question or my reaction to it, I can’t tell.

“I am so sorry Audrey. I didn’t mean to…” He tries again. “I didn’t even think about—”

“Yeah I know you didn’t. Let’s just go.” And with that I start towards the door. Just when I think that we can get on with our lives he has to ask another zinger.

“Are you two… together…?”

Slowly, I turn to face the man and see he has a steely resolve on his face this time. I assume he’s been thinking this ever since Zeke broke into their place. 

I feel the anger returning full force. How dare he think he can ask something like that? Zeke is like my father and my only family. How could he think I’d be screwing someone over twice my age? I took a deep breath to tell him as much when I remember something Zeke told me. 

Whenever I would get over the top angry about something someone else did, usually a criminal we were after, he told me to take a step back and look at the situation from their point of view. 

“Not everyone is made the same Audrey.” He’d then put a hand on my shoulder. “The sooner you learn that, the better we can do our jobs.”

Granted I still haven’t figured out how it betters our jobs to think from the criminal’s point of view, but I did that right now. 

I think about everything Steve and the others know about us and I can see it. Zeke and I have a special bond. We’re not blood, but even closer. We’ve depended on no one else but each other for years. We hug one another like we’re each a lifeline and if we let go we’ll never see them again. I’ve always known how I see Zeke and how Zeke sees me, but I guess to an outsider, we could possibly look like a couple with how we interact. Plus, they don’t know our real ages. Years on the run harden the features.

I think about all this within the couple seconds it takes me to form a response. This time, it’s free of any anger or resentment. I almost sound tired. “No. We’re not together. Not like that. He’s practically my father. The only family I’ve ever really had. I could never think of him like that, or him to me. It just seems gross and wrong.” My voice does harden a bit at this next part. “Besides, I’m not even 18 yet. Zeke’s not like that.”

Steve burns red, nods his head and accepts my answer. He mumbles out that we should get going and I agree.

Back out on the streets we’re quiet again. We each have plenty to think about. I almost don’t see the thugs before they are right in front of us. Luckily, Mr. America himself puts an arm out in front of me to get me to stop walking. 

The thug in the middle, who I can only presume is their leader, shouts to us. 

“Look what we got boys! Fresh meat!”

The others hoot and holler but it all becomes background noise to me. Steve and I turn around, hoping to avoid a confrontation. Sadly, another group of them are walking towards us from that way too. I notice the third group across the street, effectively boxing us in. That I unless we want to go down the dead-end alley off to our right.

As each group makes their slow approach, Steve glances down at me and whispers, “You can fight, right?”

I almost laugh at the question. “Oh, those training sessions haven’t done me justice Captain.”

We each put down our hoods and I half-expect the group to recognize Captain America. They don’t.

The leader whistles. “Guys, we got a baby girl with us tonight!”

More hoots and hollers with some throwing in some extremely inappropriate comments about what they’d like to do to me.

“I count about 25. You take the back I got the front and whoever gets done first can start on the middle group.” I nod along to his words. Sounds about as good a plan as any. “If you get stuck, just scream.”

“I won’t need help.”

He glances down at me one more time to let me know he doubts my words a little bit, but doesn’t comment further. 

The group is ever so closer now as Captain counts down. “In three, two, one… go!”

We break apart and charge our respective groups. My group looks extremely surprised at the turn of events, but quickly try to grab me at every turn. I start dropping thugs left and right and it’s so easy I want to laugh. These are obviously the types that are more talk than walk. I hear Mr. America behind me and can put together the thuds on his side are not his own. If this is easy for me, he could do this in his sleep.

We each quickly dispatch our targets and when I look up Mr. America almost has the third group disbanded. I see some of them fleeing, but most are on the ground, unconscious.   
Captain is engaged in one that obviously has had some training before, unlike the others, when another thug tries to go up behind Captain with a piece of metal. I don’t think, just sprint and leap. I take the guy out before he can deliver his blow and with one elbow to the face, he’s out like a light. I look up to see Captain has taken down his opponent and is looking at me with his head tilted.

I raise my hands and ask, “What?”

He just shakes his head and says, “Nothing.”

We both look around and I count 19 bodies. That means about 6 got away. If they have friends, they’ll be back with more than just their fists this time. It’s then I hear sirens in the distance and know someone called the cops. 

“Steve.”

He doesn’t even sound breathless from our encounter when he asks, “Yeah?”

“We need to go.”

I see him tilt his head and listen to the sirens before nodding again, agreeing with my assessment. We take off down the road trying to stay in the shadows as best we can. I reach in my pocket to make sure I still have the hard drive and it didn’t get lost in the fighting. Lucky for me it’s still there. We duck in alleys and sprint when we’re out in the open. The sirens continue their descent onto our location and soon we have to dive behind a dumpster to avoid a police car that’s barreling down the street. 

We rush to get out of this neighborhood. Someone had to have seen us and probably has some descriptions. Thankfully we were on a pretty dark street so one of the descriptions shouldn’t be “Captain America.” 

After practically sprinting a mile and a half, I need to stop. I’m no super human and the adrenaline ran off a bit ago. I tap Steve’s arm and he seems to get the message. So, we slow and go into an alley ducking between two more dumpsters and a load of trashcans as I try to catch my breath.

The creature sitting next to me is barely panting and I feel like my lungs left my body a half mile ago. Soon though I start to breathe more evenly. WonderBoy has been particularly quiet the whole time and I can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking. A couple of times he looks as though he wants to say something but stops himself before he gets the chance.   
My lungs are mostly back in my chest where they belong, so I huff out, “If you have something to say…” Deep breath. “Just say it.”

“Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

A couple deep breaths later allow me to answer. “Zeke taught me. He was a…,” slight panting, “an instructor. At a karate studio.” Deep breath. “But he also knows boxing, taekwondo, kendo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, judo, and kalarippayattu.” Another deep breath. “Oh, and he wrestled in high school.”

To say Mr. America looks impressed would be an understatement. He looks like he just saw me turn into a pig, sprout wings, and fly off to cure cancer.

“And he taught you all that?”

I’m tired of talking so I just nod my head.

“Where’d he learn all that?”

So many questions and not enough air.

“Well, before his wife’s death he only knew karate, boxing, kendo, and judo. He taught himself all the other ones after she died. Then he passed his knowledge to me.” I was not about to tell him the whole truth about Zeke’s past. My breathing is almost normal again.

Still stunned, he asks, “What else can you both do?”

I smile ruefully at the man. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

A few more minutes of reprieve is all I’m allowed before Mr. America ever so kindly reminds me that we should get going. So, I push myself off the ground, waving off the hand he offers me and together we exit the alleyway, check for any signs that we should retreat, and, seeing none, we take off towards the palace at a much more dignified pace. 

Unfortunately, the questions are still in full-swing tonight.

“Soo… anything else about you guys me and my team should know about?”

I shrug my shoulders as the thought pops in my head that I do that a lot. “No, you all have what you need to know.”

“What about the stuff we don’t need to know?”

I turn to see where he’s going with this, but his face is carefully blank.

“Look Captain, you all have our history facts, you can’t have our other history too.”

“What other history? Isn’t there only one kind of history?”

I shake my head. “No there’s at least two. One is the facts. The other is a much more personal kind.”

A confused look crosses his pretty face, “I don’t believe I understand.”

Sighing, I try to explain it better. “Okay, think about it this way. You have a whole exhibit dedicated to you in the Smithsonian, correct?” After he nods his head I continue. “Well that’s just a part of your history.” He tilts his head and I can see he’s really thinking about it. “That tells all about what you did and how you did it, but it probably doesn’t have they why.” He still looks a wee bit confused. “It’s like a history book and a diary. A history book will tell us that World War II started on September 1, 1939, ended on September 2, 1945, and what transpired to lead to these events, but it doesn't tell us how Roosevelt felt sending in more men to die at the hands of the enemy. It doesn't tell us about the mothers and wives who had to sit t home in agony as their boys went off to fight for their country, dreading the day they would hear word of their loved ones death. Or the ones in other countries who had no choice but to watch the action up close and personal. There is documentaries sure, but there's a difference between watching something on a screen as opposed to hearing and seeing it in real life. There's history in glances, touches, smells. And there's reasoning. There’s a reason behind every decision we make and the books and your exhibit don’t explain those. They focus on the facts, not the feelings. It might be a whole different story if you told me how you felt during that time or why you did what you did during your time in the war rather than you just telling me you did it and how.”

Silence stretches between us yet again as Steve absorbs my words. I can see the palace from where we’re at. 

I hear him take in a breath. “That… makes sense… somehow.”

“Yeah well I try.”

And with that we run towards our respective homes.


	8. Mittens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur...

When we reach our destination, I feel like crying. I never want to run so much in my life ever again. Steve must see the relief on my face because he chuckles before asking if I want a minute before we go up.

I shake my head. It’s well past midnight and the others are probably wondering where we are. We get on the elevator and ride up in silence. As soon as the doors open on our floor, I see I was correct in my assumption. Everyone is in the common area and they all rush to us when we get off, leaving us barely any room to breathe. Thankfully the Avengers huddle around Steve shouting questions at him while I’m left with Zeke, who hugs me tight before I can get a word out. I hug him back and I know it’s a while before we break apart, but it feels like only seconds. 

We look up to find the group staring at us, some with raised eyebrows. Steve nods as though letting me know he’ll talk to them all later on the matter. Zeke barely notices their staring as he looks me over a couple times for injuries. Once he’s satisfied I’m not going to die on the spot, he asks for an update. 

Grumpy breaks in at this moment, “How about we meet in the conference room in 20 to debrief and give them a chance to clean up a bit.” 

Zeke finally acknowledges the other man and nods before turning back to me. “Are you alright? Seriously, don’t lie to me. You know I can tell when you’re lying.”

I chuckle at his overprotectiveness. “Yes, Zeke. I’m fine. We just ran into a little mishap. But as Stark said, we can talk about in the conference room.”

He doesn’t appear to like my answer but huffs out a “fine” before releasing me to go clean up. 

In my bathroom, I see that I just have some dirt on me and my knuckles are a little roughed up from punching the thugs. After wiping my face off and cleaning my hands, I tackle my hair, which looks like a tornado blew through it. Then again, I can’t expect much else after our little brawl and our leisurely sprint through the city. I finish in just enough time and make my way to the conference room. 

Upon entering I see everyone else is there and seated. I sit between Zeke and Mr. America. Grumpy claps his hand and gives us the floor. I let Mr. America tell most of the story, only chiming in when I feel it necessary. After he finishes, I feel all eyes on me. I continue to focus all my attention on the table in front of me. it’s not until I feel two pumps on my hand that I look up. Everyone looks different. Zeke is beaming with pride, Grumpy looks uncertain, Whiplash and Bow Boy give me quizzical looks as if trying to figure out what makes me tick, Smirking Sam is grinning from ear to ear like this is a joke he wants to be in on, Vision is blank, tapping his fingers on the table, and Rhodey appears impressed.  
I risk a glance at Stevie and see a small, but genuine smile on his face. 

“So you can fight?”

I turn to Whiplash and smirk. “You still want to fight tomorrow?”

Her grin reminds me of the Cheshire cat from “Alice in Wonderland.” 

“Oh, I definitely want to spar tomorrow.”

I keep my grin on when I say, “Can’t wait.”

For a second she almost seems impressed, but channels it back into her blank slate.

Everyone’s eyes are still on me, so I say, “Well on with it. Personally, it’s been a long night and I’d like to sleep at some point.” 

This snaps everyone back to reality. 

Grumpy holds out his hand and asks for the drive, which I place ever so slowly in his hand. Zeke and I had to do a lot for that drive and giving it up is not the easiest thing to do. He plugs it into his hologram thingie in the front of the room and after a few taps on his tablet a page comes up politely asking for a password. 

Someone groans. “Do we have to wait for you to decrypt this because if so, I’m going to bed and you can catch me up later.” It was Smirking Sam.

I get up and walk over to Grumpy. Holding out my hand I ask for the tablet, which he reluctantly puts in my grasp. I start to type. M I T T E N S. I hit enter and the screen changes to a bunch of files. I give the tablet back before returning to my seat, relishing in the incredulous looks being thrown my way.

“How did you know that?” Grumpy’s jaw is about to hit the floor.

I lean back in my chair before responding. “Have you all forgotten that this has been Zeke and I’s project for a lot longer than it’s been yours. We know things. And one of the things we learned is that the guy who did the encryption absolutely adores his pet cat—”

“Named Mittens.” Whiplash finishes for you.

I simply nod.

“That doesn’t seem very smart of him.”

I bark out a laugh. “I never said he was smart. He was just picked to do the encryption.”

We spend the next few hours looking through files. Around the one hour mark people start yawning and heading off to bed, essentially leaving me, Zeke, Grumpy and WonderBoy.  
At 2 and a half hours Grumpy calls it a night and says he’ll look into it more deeply in the morning. I don’t like the idea, but one look from Zeke says to leave it go. So, I bite my tongue and head off to my quarters. Steve and Zeke are both down the same hallway as me, Zeke towards the beginning of the hall and me and Stevie towards the end. I stop outside Zeke’s door and give him a hug and kiss goodnight. He returns the gesture and whispers in my ear that he’s happy we’re back together again. I smile and head off further down the hall. Steve walks with me and we both stop at my door.

“Hey,” he puts a hand on my shoulder to stop me from going in, “You were really good out there tonight. I just wanted to say thank you and I’m sorry I doubted your ability.”

I smile at his sincere tone. “It’s alright. Most people do. It works to my advantage most of the time. But I’m sure that even if I wasn’t there you could’ve taken down all those guys single-handedly.

He blushes at the comment. 

 

“Even if I could, I’m still glad you were there. You saved me from being attacked from behind. So at the very least, thank you for that.”

I smile a little bigger. “No problem.”

We both stand there awkwardly until he says a hurried goodnight and rushes off to his room. I watch him go before entering my suite. Flopping down on that comfortable bed has never felt as good as it does right now. I don’t even get a chance to take off my shoes before sleep grabs ahold of me and carries me down.


	9. Dora the Explorer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So from now on I think the summary is going to have a sentence from the passage... feel free to let me know what you think.  
> This sentence is "Swiper, no swiping."

Morning is a pain in my ass.

I chant this as I hop out of bed after my lovely robotic wake-up call and make my way into the shower. The water slowly wakes me up enough to scrub myself down. Getting out and drying myself off, I take a good look in the mirror.

I look like my mom… but I have my dad’s eyes.

I shake the thought out of my head. I’m about to go out into a room full of superhumans, I can’t afford to lose it now.

I finish getting ready for the day, avoiding the mirror, completely. Making my way out into the common area, I smell breakfast wafting itself my way. I also know who’s cooking it.

As I turn the corner to the kitchen, I find I’m right when I see Zeke in an apron, making his famous Belgium waffles. He also has bacon, sausage, and eggs going.

He smiles when he sees me come in. “Hey kiddo. Sleep well? Don’t worry. I made yours with white chocolate chips and the caramel drizzle is over there.” He gives me another beaming smile before turning back to his cooking.

I grab my plate and grab the seat next to Steve. 

He smirks at me. “Caramel drizzle?”

I scoff at him. “Hey! Don’t knock it until you try it!” I’m very defensive of my morning treat.

Bow Boy is the last to make an appearance. I notice that afterwards, there is no leftovers. These people are vultures.

Suddenly, a voice is right next to my ear. “You ready to go a few rounds?”

I turn and smile at the redhead who crept up on me. “Only if you are?”

Her vixen smile makes an appearance. She then turns and walks off towards the training room. I follow, but not before hearing someone, I believe Smirking Sam, say, “Uh oh. This can’t good.”

We enter the training room with our entourage. Making our way to the middle of the floor Whiplash asks if I want weapons or not.

“Your house, your rules.”

Another rueful smile. “Fine. Hand to hand it is.”

I see the group by the doorway. Most people are looking at me like I just signed my own death certificate, though, Zeke looks like he’s trying to contain his laughter and Steve gives me a hopeful smile and a nod. 

I turn towards my opponent, put my hair back, and nod to tell her I was ready whenever.

Her smile vanishes as she takes a stance. Then, without warning, she charges. 

I manage to block her assaults, one after another. I wait for an opening and find one. She starts to get frustrated by not being able to hit me and forgets to guard her left side. I hop in the air and kick her ribs. Behind me, I hear intakes of breaths and a small chuckle that could only come from one man. Whiplash glares at me and I’m almost intimidated… almost.

She charges again, laying down move after move that keeps me busy blocking. Then I make the mistake and she gets a good punch in the jaw. I fall back but manage to remain standing. She can fricking hit! I don’t have much time to recover before she’s on me again. I manage a few punches and jabs and one kick knocking out her leg. I get on top and try to pin her, but she’s stronger than she looks. I’m thrown off, as I feel my back meet the mat. I jump up ready for the next assault but she’s already there. I barely have time to block my face when she punches my stomach, knocks me off my feet, and pins me to the floor. I struggle, but I also know I’m not getting up. I think I see stars above her head from where my head collided with the mat. 

Once I can see straight, I mutter out, “I give.” 

She releases me from her hold and smiles, lending me a hand to stand up, which I take gratefully. I’m a little dizzy on my feet, but manage a “Congratulations.”

She’s still looking rather smug when she says, “You’re not too bad yourself. I was almost worried for a second.” She pats my back as the others join us on the mats. 

The others are congratulating Whiplash on successfully kicking my ass, then they congratulate me for successfully holding my own. 

Zeke’s face swims into my field of vision. He’s smiling. 

I look up at him sheepishly. “I lost. Sorry.”

“What do you have to be sorry for Kiddo? I think you did great.”

“But I still lost. And I know how you feel about me losing.”

He places an arm around my shoulders and squeezes. “You just held your own against the Black Widow. A member of the Avengers. I am pretty darn proud right about now!”

I return his smile with one of my own. “Yeah, I guess I did. Good thing I had a great teacher.” I poke him.

He blushes a bit, like he usually does when I compliment him. “Nah, that was all you. I can only show you the moves. You’re the one that has to put them into play.”

I’m about to say more when WonderBoy approaches us. “That was amazing Audrey! I never knew you could do all that!”

“Uh, yeah you did. I told you last night.”

“Yes, but it looks a lot cooler when it’s played out in front of me. It also wasn’t a lot better than the stuff I was trying to teach you.” His smile really is one of a kind.

“Well, thank you. And you were a really good teacher. Sorry I had to lie to you though.” 

“If you ever want, I could show you some other moves. Ones that are certainly not for beginners.”

My smile grows a bit. “I think I’d like that.”

He leaves to go spar with Smirking Sam. Everyone else is off doing their own training, but I feel I did enough for today. Zeke and I walk out and I show him around a bit. Even after seeing the entertainment room, he declares the kitchen his favorite room. I laugh and it feels good to be back with him. Those two weeks around the Avengers was very stressful, trying to keep my identity a secret and always looking for a way out. Now I can just sit back and relax while the others pick up on some of the slack.

We end up watching a movie before Zeke decides he should start lunch. I help him in making one of our favorite dishes, Chicken Parmesan. I’m in charge of cutting up the tomatoes for the sauce, because it has to be homemade. Then he puts me on noodle duty. The smell must be contagious because soon six hungry Avengers make their way into the kitchen. 

“What is that smell because I want to marry it.” Smirking Sam tries to swipe some of the sauce.

I smack his hand away. “No. Swiper no swiping.”

He frowns, but walks to the table grumbling about mean little girls with wooden spoons.

I chuckle and within minutes, lunch is served. And like I said before: vultures. Everyone got their own plate of Chicken Parm but the side dishes of cream corn, broccoli with ghouda, and stuffing are almost all gone by the time I sit at my place. 

I lean over to Zeke and whisper, “Good thing we saved a plate for Grumpy Pants, or else he’d have to starve.”

He laughs at my joke. I don’t think Grumpy would ever truly starve in a place like this. I do wonder what he’s doing, but then figure he must be going through the files. After every plate, pot, and bowl is licked clean, we receive compliments on the meal. I just pass them off to Zeke, who did the real cooking. 

We start to clean up when WonderBoy stops us.

“No, no, no. You two cooked. The rest of us got clean up.”

Zeke gives him a look. “Are you sure? It’s really no trouble.”

He gets a smile in return. “Really. We all do our part around here. You two go find something to entertain yourselves with.”

Zeke thanks him and nods for me to follow him. We end up in the training room. 

“What are we doing here?”

“Welp, the both of us were down for about over two weeks. I’d say we need a little tune-up. What do ya say?”

I smile. “I thought you’d never ask.”

We spar for what seems like hours. The only words being spoken come from Zeke telling me to raise my arm a bit or to remember to keep my foot back because we stand for nothing short of perfection. I don’t even notice we attracted a small crowd until one of them claps.

“Woo! You show’em girl.” Bow Boy smacks Smirking Sam over the head. Steve is just leaning against the frame with a soft smile.

I smile and wave. “You guys wanna join us.” 

And they do. We all trade in places and spar with one another for a while. We lend each other tips and compliment the others technique. Then knives come into play. None of them my secret love for knives, so when I hit the center dead on for the fourth time in a row, they are all gob smacked.

Smirking Sam just looks me up and down before commenting, “Damn, is there anything you can’t do.”

I tell him, with a dead serious expression, “Yes. Find you attractive.”

The joke earns me a hurt look from Smirking Sam, a hard slap on the back from Zeke, a high five from Steve, and a mini hug from Bow Boy who told me I was the best.

Tonight just made the second best day of my life.


End file.
